Coin changing vending machine



Feb. 2,1943. T. o. R, DAHLBERG 2,309,693

COIN CHANGING VENDING MACI'IIII Filed Jah. 1o, 1940 2 sheets-sneekV 1Fig.

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Feb. 2, 1943. l T. o. R. DAHLBERG 2,309,693

^ COIN CHANGING VENDING MACHINE Verd @lc-af ,FCKG f'd Dohlberg VINVENTQQ Patented Feb. 2, 1943 UNITED "EES TENT FFIACE COIN CHANGINGVENDING MACHINE Application January 10, 1940, Serial No. 313,198 InSweden January 14, 1939 3 Claims.

In coin changing vending machines for goods or the like provided withseveral coin insertion slots for various coin denominations, for exampleof the type described in British Patent No. 440,763, it sometimeshappens that the coins in one of the coin receptacles become exhausted.

The object of the present invention is to produce a machine of this typein which a coin slot for such coins oi a higher denomination, theinsertion of which would require the delivery of change from a pile ofcoins of a certain lower denomination, is automatically blocked when thenumber of coins in the coin receptacle for said lower denomination fallsbelow a predetermined limit, and the blocked coin slot of the higherdenomination is automatically unblocked as soon as, upon insertion ofanother coin into the coin slot of the lower denomination, the number ofcoins in the coin receptacle of said lower denommation rises again abovesaid predetermined limit.

One embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which Fig. l is a front elevation, partly in section, ofthe device,

Fig. 2 is an end elevation, seen from the left hand side of Fig. 1 andpartly in section, and

Figure 3 shows a section on the line III-III in Figure l.

Reference numeral I denotes the casing of a vending machine for goods ortickets, said casing having five coin insertion slots intended for 5,10-, 25- and 50-re pieces and for l-krona pieces. The drawings show onlythe coin chute 2, the coin receptacle 3 and the delivery mechanismconnected to the slot for the 5-re pieces. The delivery mechanismconsists of an ejecting member 5 adapted to be reciprocated through anaperture 34 in the wall of the coin receptacle 3 by means of a link 33actuated by a cam disc I and of an arm 'I adapted to be rocked upwardsand downwards by a cam disc 5. The cam discs 4 and 6 are fast on themain shaft 32 of the machine which is rotated by a motor (not shown). Aplunger 8, forming the bottom oi the coin receptacle 3 and provided witha groove I2,

, is retained by the free end of the arm 'I in the position shown on thedrawings until the counting process has been nished and the deliveryshaft 3 of the machine and the cam discs Il) thereon have assumed thepositions corresponding to the entered amount as described in theBritish Patent 440,763. Then the arm I performs a rocking movement, andthe pin II on the underside oi the plunger 8 is allowed to move downand, according to the angular position of the shaft 3, to bear againstthe periphery of the disc I3 or enter some one of the recesses made inthe same. In the former case the ejecting member 5, upon beingreciprocated, passes through the groove I2 in the plunger 8 and does notstrike or take along any coin, while in the latter case the front end ofthe ejecting member strikes and pushes out one coin through a slot I3 inthe front wall of the receptacle 3, as described in the above mentionedBritish patent.

If, for example, the vending machine above described is adjusted for aprice of 15 Swedish re, the payments will perhaps most often consist citwo l0-re pieces, and, consequently, the machine will have to pay out a5-re piece on every such occasion. The consequence will very likely bethat the receptacle for 5-re pieces is emptied. In such cases machinesused hitherto have been closed and put out of function until the emptiedreceptacle has been filled again. However, thanks to the presentinvention the machine will continue functioning, but the insertion ofsuch coin denominations, in the above example 10-re pieces, as mayrequire a delivery of 5-re pieces, is prevented. As soon as one or more5-re pieces have been inserted in the machine it will be possible againto insert IO-re pieces. According to the invention the machine itselfwill thus ensure that a lacking coin denomination will be supplied tothe emptied receptacle again. For obtaining this purposethe followingelements have been addedin the embodiment shown on the drawings:

On the ejecting member 5 is rigidly mounted a bracket I4, in which a pinI5, adapted to pass with its free end through apertures I3 in thereceptacle Wall, is displaceably but not rotatably supported. The pin I5has fixed thereto a laterally projecting bracket 35 carrying parallelto` the pin I5 a rod I6, the free end of which has an oblique surface Il(Figure 3), and between the bracket I4 and the bracket 35, there isinterposed a helical spring I8. If the receptacle 3 contains a suicientnumber of coins, the pin I5, when carried along by the displacement ofthe member 5, will strike with its free end against the edges of thecoins and remain practically in the same position. However, since thespring I8 can be compressed, the member 5 is allowed to perform itsmovement. If, however, there are no more coins in the receptacle 3 thanshown on the drawings, the pin I5will enter into the receptacle 3through an opening I9 in the rear wall thereof, when the member 5 isdisplaced.

Of course, the rod I6 will then also be carried along, its obliquesurface H now cooperating with a pin 20. Said pin, which is secured to atwo-armed lever 22 rockable around a shaft 2|, is now forced in thedirection indicated by an arrow in Figure 3, the lever 22 being therebyrocked in the direction also indicated by an arrow in Figure 1. A springactuated locking `roller 23 cooperating with the lever 22 is therebybrought out of its locking engagement with the lever 22 and the latteris forced into the position indicated by dot-dashed lines in Figure 1,in which position the locking roller has-entered into locking engagementwith a recess 2:1 provided in lever 22. The portion 25 of the lever 22has simultaneously assumed a position in which it blocks the coininsertion slot for the 10-re pieces. By a suitable marking 25, visiblethrough an opening 3| in the casing l, there may also be indicated thatthe said insertion slot is blocked for the present.

The lever 22 remains in its position indicated by dot-dashed lines inFigure 1 until one or more -re pieces have been `inserted into the slotfor said coin denomination. As soon as a coin has been inserted intosaid coin slot, the lever 22 is automatically returned to its originalposition. This is effected by the following elements:

The machine described above is provided, in known manner, withreciprocable push-rod or control members 36, by means of which coinsstanding on edgerin the coin chutes are moved from said chutes to thecoin receptacles. Therefore, if a 5-re piece has been inserted into thecoin chute for said denomination, as shown in Figure 1, the push-rodmember 26, when being displaced in thedirection indicated by an arrov.7in Figure l, will strike against said coin, whereby the latter willserve as coupling member and, against the action of a spring 2l, carryalong a movable portion 29 of the coin chute with a pin 28 in theabove-mentioned direction. The pin 28 now contacts with a projection 36formed from the lever-22 and, consequently, forces the lever 22 into itsinitialposition in which it is retained by the spring biased roller 23.The coin slot for the -re pieces thus becomes unblocked, and any coindenomination may again be insertedinto the machine.

Of course several embodiments cf the device are possible within thescope of the invention, and the device may advantageously be applied tovarious vending machines for articles and tickets without the inventiveidea being therefore abandoned.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a coin receiving and change giving mechanism comprising, for eachcoin denomination, a coin receptacle to accommodate a pile of coins,

a coin chute leading to said receptacle and being provided with a coinreceiving slot, and coin ejecting means to deliver coins of saiddenomination from said receptacle, a shiftable element, a resilientdrive for said element operable to urge displacement thereof in onedirection, said element having a portion disposed normally in front ofan aperture provided in the wall of a receptacle for coins oi' a lowerdenomination at a predetermined level to substantially preventdisplacement of said element upon operation of said resilient drive whenthe pile of coins in said receptacle projects above said predeterminedlevel and to penetrate into said coin receptacle, thereby permittingdisplacement of said shiftable element by said resilient drive when thelatter is operated while the uppermost coin of said pile is below saidlevel, a blocking member operatively connected with said shiftableelement and adapted to block the coin receiving slot of a different andhigher coin denomination when said element is displaced, and means torestore .said blocking member to its inoperative position when a coinhas been inserted into the coin receiving slot of said first mentionedlower coin denomination.

2. A mechanism, `as Vclaimed in claim 1, in which said resilient drivecomprises a resilient coupling between said shiftable element and thecoin ejecting means of said lower denomination.

3. A mechanism, as claimed in claim l, in which the coin chute of saidlower denomination includes a movable portion and a reciprocable memberso arranged that a coin inserted into the coin slot of said lowerdenomination forms a connector between said reciprocable member and saidmovable portion to permit displacement of the movable portion by thereciprocable member when a coin has been inserted in said coin slot,said means for restoring said blockingmember to its inoperative positionbeing operatively connected with said movable portion of the coin chute.

TORD OLOF RICKARD 'DAHLBERG

